By Debbie Cohen
Eight contemporary artists with watercolor renditions demonstrate these fashions with various cloth materials hung in frames and actual displays of dresses from the 18th century. Juliana Driever curates the display. Driever said the artists are Jody Culkin, Stefany Goldberg, Selma Karaca, Elizabeth Llerena, Kambui Olujimi, Anne Polashenski, Juana Valdes and Gretchen Vitamvus. Each artist in this display, called “Cultural Redress,” have selected renderings of garments from the library's collection to inspire new work that re-addresses these fashions via their implications of social status, gender identity, propriety and conformity to cultural traditions, according to Driever. Some sketches include “Infant's Bonnets” of 1885 by Mina Lowry and another “Bonnet and Mantle” sketch by Jody Culkin. Bonnets were considered vital to the 19th century child's wardrobe. It communicated a sense of modesty, but also served as a form of protection. Padded bonnets called pudding caps were worn as security helmets for children who were learning to walk. One unique dress that is being displayed is a “Dress of Cream Colored Brocade Silk” by Ruggiero Pierotti, was worn between 1770 and 1780 and was also displayed at the Museum of the City of New York. Another unique item is a watercolor sketch for another 18th century brocade dress, called “What's Hidden Underneath” by Elizabeth Llerena, which has pictures of faces imbedded on the front of the dress. A watercolor painting of a waistcoat from the 1830s by Mina Lowry was also an interesting fashion statement of that time. By the mid-19th century, waistcoats had become part of a formula used in formal men's wear. Some other watercolor paintings on display include a “Little Boy's Suit” from 1860, an 18th century “Floral Red Dress Brocade” and a fragment of “Block-printed Cotton” from the 19th century. The display portrays the history of fashion and how it changed through modernity. In 1935, the Index of American Design was part of a larger national commitment to providing work relief during the Great Depression through the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal project initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Conceived by two New York women, the Index employed 1,000 artists who produced over 18,000 watercolor objects in museums and private collections, according to Central Queens Library Gallery. “Cultural Redress” explores the cultural and historical dimensions of dress with updated renditions to the outmoded American fashions. If you are a history buff, according to www.vintageblues.com, the years from 1900 to the outbreak of World War I were a time of extravagance and ostentation. The function of clothing was becoming more practical. World War I changed the world and the fashion industry forever. In the early 1900s, boys and young men wore three piece suits, top hats and high stockings that reached the knee. Women wore straw hats. Overcoats and sterling silver laden canes were commonplace. We now call this vintage clothing, but it is nice to reminiscence.
